WESTWATER (Day 5)

Today we had a 4-hour-float. If possible, we were going to try to get in a hike at one of the several side canyons along the way.

From Mee 2 (Mile 13.2) to Westwater (Mile 25)

A warm breakfast really helped chase away the chill from the night!

Back on the river...

Spectacular clouds!

Starting at Mile 16.28, the river cut through Vishnu Schist, some of the oldest rocks on the planet. This is the Black Rocks area. There are several camping spots but also the strongest rapids along this section of the river.

Surreal!

Black Rocks Rapid: Class II

We tried to pull over a few times at the side canyons but either there was no place to land among the thick vegetation, the railroad blocked the way with large fences, the river was too shallow or the current too strong. So we just kept going.

Mile 21.02, the Utah/Colorado border!

Actually, peanut butter and jelly tortillas were a lot easier and less messy to eat!

A final visit from my friendly purple apparition

Things moved quickly as soon as we pulled up at Westwater. We had to clear out before other boaters arrived who also needed to use the spot. We unloaded everything onto the shore; Cliff fetched his car that he'd left here; he hooked up the boat; we threw our stuff haphazardly into the vehicle; then did the long dirt drive back to the highway and back to my car at Fruita.

Originally we'd planned to camp another night at the state park, but since we had gotten in so early (since hiking didn't work out), we decided to start our respective drives home.

A reported accident on the interstate crossing the mountains had my gps wanting to reroute me, adding an extra hour to my trip home. But I trusted everything would be cleared up by the time I arrived at the problem area a couple hours later. It was. It was also dark on my drive so I missed the full splendor of the mountains. I arrived home around 8 pm.

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